21 réponses à ce sujet

[andar91]

So there's been quite a few posts lately from Bioware about their ideas about companion armor. To my knowledge, they haven't talked about weapons yet.

I have no problem with class restrictions, though I know some people do; rogues and warriors being limited to 2 weapon styles is fine with me. However, I think it'd be nice to have the ability to decide which of those 2 styles a companion uses along with their talents. It all goes back to the player agency they keep talking about. So I'm hoping that we can give Fenris a sword and shield if we want, or hand Varric some daggers. That way we get more flexibility in how we build our party.

Anybody have any thoughts?

[Dejajeva]

My only opinion on weapons in general is that story-important weapons should level up with my companions and character. There is no reason why Wesley's shield was good enough at Ostagar but not good enough for an act 2 Aveline. It was important to her and should have been one of the items that improved with level up so she could have kept it if she (or I) so chose. The Starkhaven Longbow, etc. These are weapons that are important enough to each character that they should have been able to have been used the entire game if so chose.

Also, if they aren't going to auto level up important story weapons, then the companions better not complain if I sell it. Even if I put the shield in storage Aveline assumed I sold it. I don't have a high enough backpack to keep all the stuff I need to keep as it is without dropping stuff off every 30 minutes the way I play. Keeping a crappy shield just so later Aveline won't **** about it even though she can't use it anymore and it does me no good to keep it....is stupid.

[ianvillan]

Totally agree, the companions should have access to every talent tree availiable to there class so if I wanted to turn Fenris in to a sword and board i could. I would also like to be able to equip him with a bow for ranged attacks even if he isn't very good with the weapon .

Why they got rid of the weapon switch button I have no idea, I found if a pain to have to pause the game go into inventry and have to swap my weapons manually just to equip a bow then do the same again to get my weapons back.

They should also bring back short swords or axes for the rogues.

[Arthur Cousland]

I agree about Wesley's Shield. That's an important shield to her, and yet it gets outdated so quickly. It should have been something that leveled up with her, like Varric and Bianca.

The same goes for Sebastian's Starkhaven Longbow. As soon as that quest was over, I had him re-equip one of the item pack bows and sold the Starkhaven Longbow.

My archer rogue uses his bow as a melee weapon when in melee range, so I never feel the need to switch to daggers. If he was a dual weapon specialist, then I would find it annoying if I wanted him to use a bow.

I would have liked the option to give Isabela a bow or Fenris a shield, as I might actually use them more often than just their personal quests.

It would be nice if some attention was paid to companions' weapons, similar to Bianca. However, even if the weapon levels with them, I'd like to have the option to have them use something else if I wanted, and not have the default weapon stuck on them. In Varric's case, perhaps he'd just pull out Bianca during cut scenes, but use the bow I gave him in combat.

[The Elder King]

I honestly want both the possibility of choosing our companions' weapons, and the possibility to choose every weapons.
I'm sorry, but I still don't understand why a warrior couldn't use a bow or two weapon, or why the rogue couldn't use a sword. It doesn't make sense to me. It's stupid that my warrior couldn't use a bow on long range. It's stupid that a warrior couldn't use two weapon. It's even more stupid that a rogue couldn't use a sword.

[AkiKishi]

I like signiture weapons. But in a game like DA where I don't have the number of NPCs to make my own varied party. I do need those NPCs to be more flexible. I don't want to have to take X because she's the best tank. Or Y because he's the only one who can do in combat res.

You would be hard pressed to find a tactical RPG with less party members than DA/2.

[The Elder King]

BobSmith101 wrote...

I like signiture weapons. But in a game like DA where I don't have the number of NPCs to make my own varied party. I do need those NPCs to be more flexible. I don't want to have to take X because she's the best tank. Or Y because he's the only one who can do in combat res.

You would be hard pressed to find a tactical RPG with less party members than DA/2.

The worst thing was the fact that if you aren't a mage, a good part of DA2 you're forced to use Anders (especially on higher difficulties). That was on of the worst things that I find in DA2.

[Mmw04014]

I'd like a ton more diversity in weapons. I hated that rogues couldn't use longswords since all my rogues in Origins used them pretty much all the time. They restricted these options (for the PC at least) to make the classes more distinctive, but instead of taking away the options entirely, they should have given you penalties. Like a warrior can use a bow, but he doesn't hit as often as a rogue would.

[Dejajeva]

I don't mind Bianca because it just fit varrics char..sort of like Bianca was a character herself but it would have to be like that again in order for me not to mind.

I also don't think every weapon should be equippable on every class..but every class should have access to all weapon types for their class. Any rogue should be able to use a bow or daggers..and if they threw in more weapon types for each class that would be okay too.

[Dakota Strider]

My thoughts on both armor and weapons, for both the player character and the npc's, is to be careful not to make them over-powered. I prefer the items that players have sentimental attachments to, like Wesley's shield in DA2, or the Cousland Family Sword in DAO. It would be nice if they could be enhanced to some degree, so they could be functional longer into the game.

But please, keep the powers of weapons and armors moderate. If they become too powerful, it basically feels like you are playing a set of equipment, not a person.

Modifié par Dakota Strider, 16 avril 2012 - 03:55 .

[SteveGarbage]

I hate, hate, HATE improves on level up when the item that's leveling is better than any of the other equipment you pick up. Namely, every improves with level-up item in the DLC item packs.

If you're going to do that, the item should be comparable to other items, where you may find something you want to replace it with or you may decide to keep it for story reasons despite the inferior stats. The Lion of Orlais Shield and Fadeshear sword are good examples.

There should be a mechanism that allows a player to use a certain weapon, but at a cost. Essentially what I'm thinking of is similar to the smithing upgrades of Skyrim or a method that would allow you to add sockets to an item to insert runes or maybe a combination of both.

I totally agree that being able to keep those base items is an important story aspect that some people enjoy, especially for someone like Aveline since shes chews you out later if you ditched Wesley's shield.

But like in The Old Republic, my Jedi Sentinel is still using the first lightsaber I crafted on Tython at lvl 10 more than 100 hours of play ago. And I don't ever want to give that item up and since it's an orange-grade, stats based on the mods in it, I can effectively do that.

[Xerxes52]

I agree that companions should have a little more leeway in weapon choice, such as making Fenris a Sword and Shield figher or Isabela an Archer. Bioware would have to make their personal ability trees work for both weapon types though, I wouldn't want to be shafted if I gave Varric a set of daggers and that locked out his two arrow abilities.

As for leveling items, I think there should be a few unique items for the party members (like Bianca and Tallis' daggers) as well as several major leveling armor sets, weapons, accessories for the protag and other party members. They shouldn't be as powerful as the DLC items though, but I do like having armor, weapons, rings, amulets, etc that stay useful throughout the whole game.

[Sylvius the Mad]

No equipment should ever level-up with the characters. That doesn't make any sense at all.

[esper]

hhh89 wrote...

BobSmith101 wrote...

I like signiture weapons. But in a game like DA where I don't have the number of NPCs to make my own varied party. I do need those NPCs to be more flexible. I don't want to have to take X because she's the best tank. Or Y because he's the only one who can do in combat res.

You would be hard pressed to find a tactical RPG with less party members than DA/2.

The worst thing was the fact that if you aren't a mage, a good part of DA2 you're forced to use Anders (especially on higher difficulties). That was on of the worst things that I find in DA2.

No, you are not. Mythal favours and potions more than make up for him.

[andraip]

They could simply put some talents in the personal skill tree of a companion that encourages the use of the prefered weapons of said companion. Thus playing with another weapon would not be that effectrive, but viable nontheless. E.g. Isabella can only use All Hands on Deck if using daggers.

Mages should not have such restrictions, it was pretty dumb that Merryll could heal for example.

[AkiKishi]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

No equipment should ever level-up with the characters. That doesn't make any sense at all.

People often tinker with weapons so I don't see anything nonsensicle about a weapon improving. Familiarity alone will lead to improved results. Any mechanic is an abstract.

[andar91]

Xerxes52 wrote...

I agree that companions should have a little more leeway in weapon choice, such as making Fenris a Sword and Shield figher or Isabela an Archer. Bioware would have to make their personal ability trees work for both weapon types though, I wouldn't want to be shafted if I gave Varric a set of daggers and that locked out his two arrow abilities.

As for leveling items, I think there should be a few unique items for the party members (like Bianca and Tallis' daggers) as well as several major leveling armor sets, weapons, accessories for the protag and other party members. They shouldn't be as powerful as the DLC items though, but I do like having armor, weapons, rings, amulets, etc that stay useful throughout the whole game.

I don't think it would be too hard to make their specialization apply to both weapon styles. If you look at Fenris' Tevinter Fugitive specialization, for example, not a single ability in that tree is solely linked to a weapon style. I know other specializations are more specific, but it's clearly possible. It's even easier with mages since they only have the one weapon style.

[Irx]

Levelling items break balance.
Unless you're actually required to pay to update their level - that would probably work.

[Dakota Strider]

I agree that weapons and armor should not level up with a character. When I suggested that heirloom items have a way to be improved, so they could remain usuable at higher levels, I was implying that it should be done by some sort of crafting/smithing procedure. For example, taking the Cousland Family Sword, and having a master smith reforge it by mixing in a stronger alloy (like the rare star metal), or embedding some flawless gems into it, then having an enchanter strengthen it. This would be costly, and could only be done to improve any specific item once (perhaps twice at most). This would maintain a balance that would not make these items too strong. It also helps maintain the desire and wonder of finding new items, instead of just being satisfied with the same old equipment, that miraculously gets better, the longer you own it.

[AkiKishi]

Irxy wrote...

Levelling items break balance.
Unless you're actually required to pay to update their level - that would probably work.

Opposite is true. Leveling items gives you more fixed variables which make things easier to balance. It really depends what you are going for. Are you going for a scale where the party stays on par or becomes less powerful with creatures of the same level ? Or are you going for sometning where the party gets noticably more powerful than everything but bosses?

In the first example, then items become the difference in power level. In some cases much more important than the characters. WoW for example, raid gear is what makes the difference. The character becomes secondary.

In KOA as a Mage, I was able to not worry too much about gear and let my skills take care of everything because anything less than Orange was fodder that barely required breaking step. 

In the WoW type scenerio leveling gear with you means it's easier to keep things balanced. In the second it's not even that important outside of non standard battles.Removing found gear has less to do with balance and more to do with removing that piece of cheese that becomes standard in raid gaming.

[Xerxes52]

andar91 wrote...

Xerxes52 wrote...

I agree that companions should have a little more leeway in weapon choice, such as making Fenris a Sword and Shield fighter or Isabela an Archer. Bioware would have to make their personal ability trees work for both weapon types though, I wouldn't want to be shafted if I gave Varric a set of daggers and that locked out his two arrow abilities.

As for leveling items, I think there should be a few unique items for the party members (like Bianca and Tallis' daggers) as well as several major leveling armor sets, weapons, accessories for the protag and other party members. They shouldn't be as powerful as the DLC items though, but I do like having armor, weapons, rings, amulets, etc that stay useful throughout the whole game.

I don't think it would be too hard to make their specialization apply to both weapon styles. If you look at Fenris' Tevinter Fugitive specialization, for example, not a single ability in that tree is solely linked to a weapon style. I know other specializations are more specific, but it's clearly possible. It's even easier with mages since they only have the one weapon style.

With Fenris, Aveline, and Isabela that wouldn't be a problem, but Varric and Sebastian have a couple abilities limited to ranged attacks. It wouldn't take much to make them both usable as either ranged or melee though.

Irxy wrote...

Levelling items break balance.
Unless you're actually required to pay to update their level - that would probably work.

To be fair, the DLC weapons were overpowered due to their excessive bonus stats; understandable of course, you do have to pay real money for them.

Fadeshear was well balanced though. In most circumstances it was just a plain sword with moderate damage, but was good against demons and undead. You would find better weapons in the normal game, but Fadeshear was always there as a backup when you outgrew the other weapons.

With future leveling items, I would suggest that they only have one bonus stat in most cases, two at the most (and those weapons/armors/accessories should be rare).

Modifié par Xerxes52, 17 avril 2012 - 05:31 .

[Sylvius the Mad]

BobSmith101 wrote...

Opposite is true. Leveling items gives you more fixed variables which make things easier to balance. It really depends what you are going for. Are you going for a scale where the party stays on par or becomes less powerful with creatures of the same level ? Or are you going for sometning where the party gets noticably more powerful than everything but bosses?

I'd like the relative power of the PC and his enemies to be determined by the quality of the PC's build and the aggressiveness with which the player seeks out challenge.

I do not want the game's core design governing balance in the way that levelling items are intended to do.